A hand-customised pastel pink boda boda motorcycle taxi from Nairobi, Kenya, parked in the window of the Tribeca presentation of Edun's A/W 18 collection, attracted the eye of the passers by during New York Fashion Week. Long fringes of beads hung from its handlebars and a beaded cover decorated the seat.
Edun, the label founded by Ali Hewson and husband Bono, has had its ups and downs in the last few years, with several changes for what regarded creative directors in a relatively short time.
Launched in 2005 to prove that another fashion industry was possible, the ethical label was criticised for producing its designs in China. In May 2009 the couple sold 49% of the company to LVMH Moët Hennessy Louis Vuitton and a major restructing managed to bring in the last few years 85% of the manufacturing to Africa (the rest of the garments are made in the US employing organic, recycled and upcycled fabric).
At the moment there is a team of designers leading the brand, and the most intriguing pieces produced in the last few years seem to be the accessories, made with experimental materials.
The label has developed indeed an ethical programme and has been working on bags made from pineapple and Ugandan tree bark. Though it may sound bizarre, the products look as if they were made with genuine leather.
Edun's A/W18 collection includes such vegan leather bags, shoes, vests and miniskirts as well, and a series of designs made from ethically sourced textiles.
The decorative motifs of the motorcycle taxis were the inspiration for the graphic prints of animals such as elephants and giraffes, and letters employed for a trenchcoat, shirts and pants.
But the A/W 18 collection is a sort of journey through Africa: it includes coats in recycled wool felt embellished with embroideries made in Rwanda; striped pants and jackets hand-woven in Burkina Faso; a coat made using a carpet-weave by the Weavers Worth workshop in Kenya; a jacquard cardigan crafted in Madagascar and a series of pieces, embellished with beaded fringes made by Kenya's Kazuri Beads. The company, employing 300 women, also produces vases and custom ceramic jewelry sold in Edun's New York store.
Edun still functions as a team with some creative help from Ali Hewson, so there are still issues to sort out especially regarding silhouettes and a touch of originality heavily lacking here and there in designs that at times verge between modern collections à la Céline and J.W. Anderson's. It wouldn't hurt the label focusing just on outerwear and expanding its accessory lines: jewellery and the interior design pieces in the Edun store in New York prove indeed more intriguing than the clothes.
The strength of the label at the moment rests in its experimental materials and in the fact that it has been working with proper African craftspeople. The company's site also lists a group of African partners and workshops that work with the brand to prove consumers that ethical luxury is possible.
Time will tell if Edun becomes a major player in changing the fashion game and in shifting the attention to African crafts. But next time they should check out for the label's lookbook some of the contemporary photographers exhibited at MACAAL's "Africa Is No Island" exhibition, as that would certainly lead to some intriguing collaborations and bring more positive changes in Africa and in the fashion industry as well.
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